San Elizario incorporation on hold until fall

Last month District Court Judge Stephen B. Ables issued a temporary restraining order preventing the city of Socorro from proceeding with annexation plans of San Elizario. The residents of San Elizario want to incorporate.

The move by San Elizario to incorporate is on hold as it will not be on any ballot in May, but the movement is far from over.

The deadline to put the incorporation issue on a May ballot was Friday, but because the city of Socorro has not granted San Elizario the right to incorporate, San Eli leaders could not put the issue up for a vote.

Because San Elizario is in Socorro's extraterritorial jurisdiction, San Elizario needs a written agreement from Socorro before it can try to incorporate.

Maya Sanchez, a leader of the incorporation movement in San Elizario, said Socorro officials have made it very clear that they are not going to give San Elizarians permission to become a city.

Earlier this week Socorro City Council voted on its annexation ordinance that includes a section of San Elizario.

The action was taken few days after a district court judge issued a temporary injunction on Socorro's annexation plan until the issue of whether the city council is in office legally is resolved. Visiting District Court Judge Stephen Ables allowed Socorro City Council to reach final adoption of the ordinance, but prevented them from enforcing the ordinance at least until a final hearing takes place on April 25.

If Ables rules that council members are not lawfully in office, then the annexation will be invalid. Ê

Sanchez said some San Eli residents are hoping the judge rules against Socorro.

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"We hope that the judge rules in our favor so we are able to complete the incorporation with the area that Socorro plans to annex," Sanchez said.

She said San Elizarians now hope to put the incorporation issue up for a vote in November.

"We're still working toward that and getting everything we need to incorporate," Sanchez said.

Part of the plan to obtain Socorro's permission to incorporate is to support candidates who would allow them to become a city, Sanchez said.

Socorro voters are expected to elect half of its council, two council members and a mayor, in May.

David Garcia, a spokesman for the city of Socorro, said the city of Socorro will not proceed with any annexation or allow any other community to incorporate unless it is approved by city council.

"We want everybody to know that we do not approve any annexation or incorporation in our ETJ (extraterritorial jurisdiction) unless it goes before council," Garcia said.

Garcia said that does not mean that permission will not be granted to whoever requests it, but "they just have to go though the right channels."

In 2010 Horizon City annexed a section of land without telling Socorro and city officials do not want that to happen again, Garcia said. Ê

He said the city of Socorro has not received a request from residents of San Elizario saying they want to incorporate.

San Elizarians are looking at incorporating as a Type B General-Law municipality, which usually has between 201 and 600 residents and its territory is less than 9-square miles.

Sanchez said the plan is to incorporate about 5 square miles, which includes the majority of San Elizario.

"Even though we can technically incorporate up to 9 miles, that would be encroaching into Fabens and we don't want to be a bad neighbor," Sanchez said. "For the longest time we all have respected boundaries of our own communities, so we are not going to get into the game that Socorro is doing in encroaching into our neighbors property." Ê

"We want to remain how we are, but obviously with the threat (from Socorro) that's not an option for us," Sanchez added.

Residents of San Elizario just want to protect themselves from Socorro taking over their community, she said.

Another option that residents of San Elizario are exploring to stop Socorro from taking over their community is the remote possibility that San Eli's incorporation of 1906 may remain active.

Ben Sanchez, father of Maya Sanchez and longtime San Elizarian, said that there is a chance that San Elizario did not dissolve as a municipality in 1906. According the historical records, San Elizario incorporated and disincorporated several times in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Ben Sanchez said there is still a chance that San Elizarians never voted to disincorporate. Currently, a group of residents in San Elizario are searching for records that could prove that San Elizario continues to be a municipality, which could prevent them from having to ask Socorro for permission to become a city.